Explanation:
In this
picture, the Sun's surface is quite dark.
A frame from a movie recorded on November 9th by
the orbiting TRACE telescope, it shows
coronal loops lofted over a
solar active region.
Glowing brightly in extreme ultraviolet light, the hot plasma entrained
above the Sun
along arching magnetic fields is cooling and
raining back down on the solar surface.
Hours earlier, on November 8th, astronomers had watched
this particular active region produce a not so spectacular
solar flare.
Still, the M-class flare
spewed forth an intense
storm
of particles, suddenly
showering
satellites near the Earth with high energy protons.
The flare event was also associated with a large
coronal mass ejection,
a massive cloud of material which
impactedour fair planet's magnetic
field about 31 hours later.
The result ... a strong
geomagnetic storm.